Dragonblood Ascension

“I wish the world can just end today.”

That night, Leon was with Roan and Taylor in their usual hideout when Heidi soon joined them. Out of the three, she looks the most pale and one would think she is sick. Sometimes, Leon would think she was dying and was trying to keep it away from them. But then, even if that was true, what can they possibly do? It’s not like they have any money for a proper treatment.

“Where have you been? You didn’t join us for meals in the cafeteria,” Leon asked her the moment she sat with them.

“She was busy washing the plates you used to eat,” Roan said almost immediately and Heidi pushed him off the small stool he was sitting.

Even as pale and weak as she may appear, she still has strength in her than most boys.

Leon was already vibrating in anger and the next second, he stood and kicked a blameless can so hard that it went crashing against the wall. He clenched his fists hard and it was evident that he was tired of it all.

“How much longer do we have to be treated as trash? The noble students have powerful parents so they get all the respect and use their influence to trample on us? Why? We the low lives can’t even get angry enough to retaliate if they use their abilities to harm us. Is that what the academy is really training us?”

“But what can we really do? It’s not like ranting about it can solve anything here,” Taylor said with slumped shoulders, already accepting the reality, and that made Leon more furious.

He didn’t like how they were quick to accept such reality. Ranting may not solve anything, but folding arms won’t do it either. But then, it has always been the powerful ruling with no one to stand against them. If you don’t have mana, you can’t even say a word and expect people to hear you out.

“What am I even getting angry about?” He thought and slowly dragged his feet back to sit.

Heidi, understanding how Leon felt, tried to make the mood less heavy and she said to him, “What if we don’t really need to prove ourselves to get accepted? What if being a low-life is what is protecting us? What if having acquiring mana is not all that great at all?”

Roan and Taylor turned their heads to her and exchanged glances.

“To me, having you three is having everything. I don’t care if we are the four mana-less kids in this academy.” She smiled at the end and the air around them already felt lighter by then.

Leon doesn’t know how she can just do that; smiling through her weakness and through the unfair judgment. He still remembers when he first met the three. They were from the same village and they already had their circle before he joined them. Just like him, they also joined the academy to survive after losing their families.

Every time Leon witnesses the unfair punishment given to his friends, he is always moved to the point of wanting to just make everything change all of a sudden. Sometimes, he has thought of just acquiring a special ability that no one has before, and then using it to surpass the others, bringing Cedric and the other noble students beneath them. Other times, he has thought of just winning against the noble students with his skills, but just today, he has learnt that it won’t always be as he had imagined.

A sigh escaped from his lips and he said, “I wish the world can just end today.”

Taylor raised his eyes immediately and said, “Don’t say such an evil thing. Do you know how terrifying it is for those whose responsibility is to save the world?”

“I wish they know how terrifying living already is for me,” Leon said.

“Hey,” Heidi called him and when he looked at her, she gave him a slap on his back.

Leon sat up immediately and moved his hand to scratch his back that was stinging with pain. He shot her an angry glare and asked, “What was that for?”

“You don’t get to give up easily,” she said. “We all saw your duel with Cedric earlier. You blocked his lightening steps and you were this close to getting him. All those nights of intense training and not giving up weren’t a waste after all.”

“I wanted to tell you that too earlier at the cafeteria,” Taylor said with excitement in his voice. “Everyone saw your moves and how skilled you are even without having any mana. The students were whispering behind but of course, they can’t commend you because of fear of what Cedric and the others may do to them.”

“Did you see Cedric’s face at the cafeteria when you stood up to Tristan?” Roan asked. “I bet he was already shitting his pants.”

They all burst out laughing and Leon was overwhelmed with tears. He couldn’t believe that there are people who actually believe in him, and those people were his own friends. Even if other people don’t see his worth, they see it, and that alone is enough for him.

Heidi was right all along. Having them is having everything. Now, he doesn’t even need to prove anything to anyone, as long as he can be there for his friends and protect them when the need ari—

BOOM!

An explosion shook the earth and sent them all crashing to the floor.

Leon was deaf for at least a minute. He couldn’t tell where the explosion came from or what it meant. He looked at his friends and saw their faces in panic as they kept shouting words he couldn’t put together. When he finally regained his hearing, the sound of loud screaming shook him back to his feet and emergency siren suddenly went off continuously across the capital.

Leon recognized the sound immediately. It was the war siren to signal that they are under attack.

“We need to get to safety now!” Heidi shouted at the top of her lungs and they all started to run out of the hideout.

When they got to the courtyard, Leon froze immediately. The northern section of the capital was on fire. Massive pillars of smoke rose into the sky with flashes of magic exploding in the distance. Even from where he stood, he could hear the screams of the civilians.

Dozens of confused trainees ran around, fear clouding their faces and everyone was either shouting or screaming. It was obvious they were all scared. No one could have predicted that a war would happen this soon.

Instructors rushed out to witness what was happening and they tried barking orders at the panicking students. As everyone was thrown in disarray, the Royal Knights soon arrived in their blue uniforms, all geared up and ready for any deadly attack while also protecting the trainees.

Leon couldn’t believe what was happening. Seeing the Royal Knights surrounding the whole place meant that something terrible had just befallen the capital. He moved his eyes to see his friends all looking uncertain and scared.

If he had known, he would not have wished for such evil so stupidly. Now he feels guilty that they are reaping the consequence for what he had uttered earlier.

A female knight walked in their midst, heading for the platform and curious trainees kept asking questions:

“Can you tell us what’s happening?”

“Are we under attack?”

“Is the world collapsing?”

Silence fell in the courtyard at once when the knight stepped onto the platform and one could see that her eyes are as cold as death itself.

She parted her lips and said the words that would shake everyone to their bones;

“The outer wall has fallen!”